Matt Moniz hiked to Mount Everest base camp in Asia and climbed the highest peaks in Europe, Africa and South America before he did his first Colorado fourteener last year — at age 11.

So the Boulder seventh-grader established his reputation for precocity well before he and his father, Mike, tackled this summer’s project: reaching the highest point of the 50 states in 50 days or fewer.

Beginning June 3 with an ascent of Alaska’s Denali (the highest peak in North America at 20,320 feet) and culminating July 16 on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea (13,804 feet), they completed the odyssey in 43 days, 3 hours, 51 minutes. That bettered Denver schoolteacher Mike Haugen’s previous “high-pointers” record by two days, 15 hours, 11 minutes.

Like last year’s project — doing 14 fourteeners in 14 days, which actually took only eight — Moniz did the high-point challenge in part to raise awareness of pulmonary arterial hypertension, a cardiovascular disease that afflicts his best friend. Moniz said his friend experiences headaches and shortness of breath.

“It’s basically like being at altitude, 2 4/7,” Matt Moniz said of his friend’s rare disease. “I feel really, really blessed to be able to choose to do high-altitude mountaineering. After every trip we have a sleepover, we play a bunch of games and I show pictures, tell him a bunch of stories.”

People attempting to do the high points in record time start the clock when they reach their first summit, so Denali pretty much has to be first on the list.

“Denali went awesome,” Matt Moniz said. “I had a lot of fun. We did it relatively quick, in about 12 days.”

The lowest state high point is Florida’s Britton Hill at 345 feet above sea level. The high point in Indiana, Hoosier Hill (1,257 feet), has a silo painted with a big sunflower and a signpost pointing to all the other high points and their distances.

“My dad spent the most time putting on bug spray, and no one else got hit with any chiggers,” Matt Moniz said. “My dad probably got hit with 15.”

They hit the weather just right on Denali, but not on Washington’s Mount Rainier, where they were forced to turn around 1,000 feet below the 14,411-foot summit because of a whiteout on July 1.

“We thought that was the end of the pursuit for the record, which wasn’t a big deal,” Mike Moniz said. “It was something that was kind of fun as a goal.”

They spent that night at Camp Muir (10,200 feet), but when they got up the next day, the storm was raging below them — with blue sky above.

“We got to the summit in four hours and 30 minutes,” Matt Moniz said. “Perfect weather.”

That left six peaks, the record still within reach. It took two more weeks, including the most difficult climb of the Lower 48, Montana’s Granite Peak (12,807 feet).

“I think what made Granite particularly memorable for us was that it was a late snow year,” Mike Moniz said. “We had a perfect weather day, but the snow was still there, and the ramp that is usually all rock was covered in snow. There were several snow bridges and a few couloirs. It was pretty challenging. It was a real crux for us.”

Golden’s Charley Mace, who has summitted four 8,000-meter peaks, guided them on Granite Peak.

“Being a father of another 12-year-old, I know Matt is truly an exceptional kid,” Mace said. “My overriding memories from our time together are his radiant smile and the back of his pack as he raced ahead on the trail.”

That left only Mauna Kea to check off the list.

“On the summit of Mauna Kea, it was actually colder than most fourteeners I’ve been on,” said Matt, who competes on the Winter Park freestyle team in the winter.

Matt and Mike sometimes used a private airplane for travel from state to state. They had drivers so they could nap in a van on days when they did multiple high points.

Mike Moniz, who is an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, loves a line he saw on Twitter: Every mountain transforms you into a better version of yourself.

Because Matt has already climbed the highest mountain on four continents with his father, the “Seven Summits” is obviously a consideration, but they have no interest in making Matt the youngest to climb Everest. That title is currently held by Californian Jordan Romero, who did it in May at age 13.

“Matt and I would love to complete the Seven Summits together,” Mike said “That is a family goal. But he really needs to make up his own adult mind about Everest.”

The Post's ski and Olympics writer, Meyer covered his 12th Games last summer in Rio de Janeiro. He has covered five World Alpine Ski Championships and more than 100 World Cup ski events. He is a member of the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and Colorado Running Hall of Fame. He regularly covers running and the Colorado Rapids.

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